Company thanks its employees and contractors for their hard work and dedication

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) recognized PECO today with the association's Emergency Recovery Award for the utility's exceptional response efforts in restoring power to more than 850,000 customers following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. The award was presented during EEI's CEO conference in Arizona.

Hurricane Sandy was the most devastating storm in PECO's history, causing severe and widespread damage that resulted in outages for more than half the company's electric customers. The 2012 Emergency Recovery Award honors the efforts of more than 5,000 PECO employees and contractors - from as far away as Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and PECO's sister utilities ComEd in Chicago, Ill. and BGE in Baltimore, Md. - who worked around the clock to safely restore service to 99% of all customers within one week. ComEd and BGE also have been honored with awards for their recovery work during Hurricane Sandy.

"I would like to thank EEI for acknowledging our efforts through this award, but most of all I want to thank our tireless crews, contractors, customer service representatives and every other employee who helped to safely restore power to our customers," said PECO President and CEO Craig Adams. "Their hard work, dedication and commitment to customers are why EEI has recognized PECO with this award."

The Emergency Response Award is presented each year to U.S. and foreign-based member companies to distinguish an outstanding response in restoring electrical service that has been disrupted by severe weather conditions or natural events. Winners were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process.

"PECO was faced with a major restoration effort following Hurricane Sandy," said EEI President Tom Kuhn. "Getting the lights back on quickly and safely is never easy following these natural disasters. It takes strong commitment, advanced planning, and great execution. PECO responded with all three. They're a great example for the nation's electric power industry. I congratulate them."

This is the second year in a row that PECO has been recognized by EEI for its storm response efforts. Last year the company received an Emergency Recovery Award for its work during Hurricane Irene. Previously, PECO was honored in 1998 when the company won for recovery work following severe thunderstorms. PECO also received the prestigious EEI Edison Award in 2000 for distinguished leadership, innovation, and contributing to the advancement of the electric industry.

Based in Philadelphia, PECO is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYS: EXC) .PECO serves 1.6 million electric and 494,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania and employs about 2,400 people in the region.PECO delivered 82.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 38.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2011.Founded in 1881, PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia Region's most active corporate citizens, providing leadership, volunteer and financial support to numerous arts and culture, education, environmental, economic development and community programs and organizations.